


your hard work and fervor up to now and in the future

by forgetme



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Post chapter 699, Post-Canon, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 20:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2595047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetme/pseuds/forgetme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s flattered when they tell him they want him to be the next Hokage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your hard work and fervor up to now and in the future

He’s flattered when they tell him they want him to be the next Hokage. Still his initial reply is “thanks, but no thanks“ because he feels he’s too young somehow and there were always other things he wanted to accomplish. Becoming Hokage was never chief among his many dreams.

But then, there are Naruto and Lee – two such splendid young men! – and they say “sensei, you’re a hero! You’re the strongest, most powerful man in the village, maybe even the whole world!”

 _Definitely the whole world!,_ he thinks. He doesn’t say it, though – after all, he is a very modest man, always has been.

So the very moment Kakashi puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “It really should be you, Gai. You were the one who defeated Uchiha Madara; you were the one who saved us all”, he nods gravely.

“Maybe you’re right, rival!” He flashes them a sparkly grin and the crowd breaks into cheers for their new Hokage.

***

His father is so touched by the inauguration ceremony that he sheds a few manly tears.

Gai watches the glittering, translucent stream rush down his dad’s stubbly cheeks and bites his own lip to keep from crying. He has to get through his speech, which is spectacularly short and to the point but manages to hit on every important topic while consisting of the most inspiring words he’s ever spoken. It’s a wonderful, perfect speech and his audience remains glued to his lips for the two hours it takes him to recite it.

By the end, even Kakashi’s eyes are wet with unshed tears.

***

Kakashi becomes his advisor, his second in command. Gai makes a point of encouraging him not to view this as the end of their rivalry.

“Above all, Kakashi, you should see this as an incentive to work even harder to catch up to me!” he says, laughing to show that he’s only half-serious. Ranks and titles mean nothing to Gai whose father, after all, is still a genin. Kakashi is his equal, his best friend. They made it this far together.

They made it this far.

Together.

***

Tenten comes into his office to get transferred to Anbu. It’s what she wants, so he complies after giving her a stern talking to. She has what it takes – of course she does, he trained her himself! – but Anbu… Well, it’s different now, with peace lying over the land like a calming mist.

When the official business is done, they discuss Neji’s recovery. It’s slow going but steady. He is pleased to hear as much and makes a mental note to go to the hospital to pay his brave young student a visit.

***

As busy as his schedule is, Gai still makes time to train with Lee. Every morning before dawn they meet at Lee’s small apartment and set out to run laps around the sleeping village together, sometimes on their hands.

***

It’s funny how the days fly by, beautiful sunrise to stunning sunset, so quickly that at the end of each day Gai has trouble remembering what exactly he did. All he knows is that he made the world a little better once again.

He feels a little dazed sometimes, can’t really explain it, can’t put a finger on it.

Up above, his stone face stares impassively into the distance.

Gai shrugs and goes about his business.

Why think too hard about it?

He’s happy.

Everything is perfect.

Everything is as it should be.

***

The lights are so bright, they burn into his retina.

People are shouting.

Gai’s whole body feels like it’s on fire.

He can’t breathe.

He can’t think.

He squeezes his eyes shut against the inferno raging around and inside of him.

***

“I had a terrible nightmare,” he tells his father the next day.

“You must have eaten something funny before going to sleep!” Dai’s hearty laugh fills the tiny apartment. It hasn’t changed a bit since Gai was little – neither the laugh, nor the apartment. How can it still be the same after twenty years?

Gai shakes his head. He feels like his brain is wrapped in gauze.

“I don’t think so,” he says. At the root of him there is a terror now that can’t be put into words. _Papa…_ the word sits on his tongue, _papa…_ He wants to leap from his spot on their old couch and bury his face in his father’s chest like a scared little boy.

He doesn’t.

He sits stiffly among his dusty childhood things and wonders what’s wrong with him.

***

It’s the voices he hears sometimes. They unsettle him.

It’s the way lights will suddenly flash during the nights and dim during the days. His vision will go blurry. He will sit at his desk and lose control of his body. His legs will become lead. His fingers won’t move.

***

Kakashi barely talks to him anymore. And when he does, he talks in riddles, reciting the list of ingredients off a box of cereal, the instructions to set up a VCR, fire safety rules. It’s borderline insane. Has he cracked under the pressure of being Gai’s second in command?

Gai wants to talk some sense into him, but his mouth won’t form the words.

One time he catches Kakashi looming over him, a scary look in his eyes – hope-terror-despair. Before he can say anything Kakashi is gone.

***

“Another weird dream…” Gai mumbles in the morning, peeling himself out of bed. Each day he feels a little heavier.

“It’s the stress,” Shizune tells him at the office, “you’ll get used to it, senpai. Just don’t forget about your important meeting.”

 _What important meeting?_ Gai clears his throat. “Of course,” he says. He feels foolish for having brought up his dreams in the first place. He’s Hokage! No—He’s Maito Gai! He won’t allow himself to succumb to silly superstitions. He needs to train harder!

***

“Have you been to the hospital yet?” asks Tenten, asks Lee.

“Neji is waiting for you.”

He hasn’t been to the hospital.

Every time he thinks about going it’s like his legs freeze to the ground.

He can’t go to the hospital.

***

He doesn’t know what day it is.

***

Although his dream has left him exhausted and disoriented, Gai dons the official garments and goes to his important meeting.

It’s going to take place in a large, angular building just outside the village. He finds himself right in front of it with no recollection of how he got there.

It doesn’t matter. This is where he is supposed to be.

He is sure of that.

***

He climbs the short set of stairs leading up to the open front door. The walls inside are bare and white like bones. It seems like the door leads to a long hallway. Curious, Gai steps closer and finds his path blocked by Neji.

“Neji! You’re better!” Gai is pleased if confused. His young student seems to have made a full recovery! He is wearing his usual outfit, the long-sleeved, loose jacket, no jounin vest.  Gai wants to hug him, but the boy folds his arms across his chest and shakes his head.

“You can’t go in there, sensei.”

“Why?” Gai laughs. He feels unsettled, but doesn’t want to show it.”I’m supposed to be here. Everyone is waiting for me! I’m the Hokage!”

Neji shakes his head again.“That’s not true.” He looks sad. Gai’s not sure he’s ever seen Neji look this sad before. “I can’t let you in.”

“What? Neji…” He takes a deep breath, calming himself down. “I get it. You’re angry because I didn’t visit you at the hospital. I’m sorry. I was busy. But we can talk about that inside.”

“No. You can’t visit me anymore. And I can’t let you pass. You have to be somewhere else.”

He’s starting to feel like grabbing Neji by the shoulders and giving him a good shake.

“What are you saying?” Gai barks instead. He’s still Neji’s superior. He can’t tolerate this behavior!

“Look behind you.” Neji’s pale eyes dart  to a spot somewhere over Gai’s shoulder. “You need to go there.”

Slowly, Gai turns. The village gates are gaping behind him like a bestial maw. He can hear a cacophony of voices coming from there, wherever “there” is. All he sees is a blur of colors, blotted out by looming shadows. Just looking at it makes his head hurt, makes his legs go numb.

“…I don’t want to go there,” he says. The hallway behind Neji exudes calm and quiet. It’s where he is supposed to go, not into the pain and chaos. He takes a step forward. Overpowering Neji shouldn’t be too hard. He doesn’t want to use force, but if he has to—

Neji’s lips quirk into an incredulous smile. “Sensei… I never thought you of all people would try to take the easy way out.”

“What?”

Neji hasn’t been this infuriating since he was a thirteen year old kid prodigy carrying an ancient grudge.

“It’s not your time yet,” Neji says.

“That’s not—“ Gai blinks. His chest feels tight. He tries again, but the words won’t come.  He knows that, behind him, the darkness is swelling, ready to swallow him. Suddenly a million voices are in his head. Screams and whispers and he’s drowning in a sea of infernal noise.

“Goodbye, sensei.” Neji’s words recede into the endless white. His outline becomes fuzzy. One more blink and he is gone, gone, gone.

***

Light.

It hurts.

Something goes _beep, beep, beep._

Fabric against his cheek. A pillow.

Hospital smells.

He tries to move his arms, fails. They’re heavy and distant.

He looks down his right arm. It’s wrapped in bandages. In some places tubes snake under those bandages.

The inside of his mouth feels as if it, too, is stuffed full of bandages.

The room is glowing orange. It’s either sunset or sunrise. Gai can’t tell. He doesn’t know whether his room’s windows face west or east.

He is very tired, but he wants to see the sunset or sunrise, whichever it is. He likes those. They’re pretty.

Turning his head is hard work. He’d like to think of it as a challenge – the sight of the sinking/rising sun will be his reward! – but halfway through he realizes a much more important thing.

There’s someone there. Standing by the window.

Gai stares, his mind too fuzzy to make much sense of what he sees.

There’s a person in a white coat. He thinks it might be a doctor, but then he sees the writing on the coat. Doctors don’t have that. He tries to read.

“Ro…ro..k.…” Gai’s voice is nothing more than a broken whisper, but it’s enough to make the man by the window whip around as if a scream had pierced the air.

_“Gai!”_

It’s Kakashi. His coat billows behind him as he hurries over to the bed. Like a flag of surrender, like the sail of a sinking ship.

Gai knows what it says now.

Rokudaime Hokage.

**Author's Note:**

> Possibly the first part in a series of pretty much standalone fic(lets). Slow burn Kakashi/Gai as Gai deals with the consequences of opening the eighth gate... or maybe not. I can't promise anything.
> 
> The title is a direct quote from the anime filler ep about Tenten (Shippuuden 237). It's what Gai tells Tenten when she cries and says "So after all... in the end, hard work is useless if you have no talent..."  
> Gai's reply is "Tenten, don't underestimate Lee's resolve. Don't underestimate your hard work and fervor up to now and in the future!"
> 
> I love that scene. It's my favorite filler scene ever (yes, even topping the one where Gai gives Kakashi flowers) because it's so Gai. He's so angry and frustrated and sad in the beginning, but he won't let his team give up. He just won't.  
> /and Team Gai really gets the shitty end of the stick. Wow, do they ever...


End file.
